Snapped these shots earlier today. The one on the left is the obvious shot of the booths from above, the one on the right is the neighboring convention center room with all the crates – I’m pretty sure the Lost Ark is in there somewhere.

One of the things I regret not doing last year is taking the tour of the uber Miami art collectors, the Rubell’s, collection. The Rubell Family Collection (95 NW 29 Street, Miami) is one of the leading collections of contemporary art and you can get easy access via a tour for $5 or $2.50 for students and seniors. Open from 9am-5pm; Contact Natasha Lopez De Victoria or 305-573-6090. A definite recommendation.

The reason why Sean and I are in Miami is because we are participating in Aqua Art Miami – a first time fair that is featuring about thirty young and established galleries in a crazy hotel. Besides the fact that I think so many of the galleries in Aqua have quality programming, I also think that the people who run them are really quite nice and, when you’re literally living with people, this is a good thing. A lot of people are wondering if all these side fairs (Aqua, NADA, Scope, and Pulse) are just a sign of over-indulgence or if they are, as the New York Times alludes today, fulfilling a huge demand. One thing is for sure, people from all different walks of the art world are waiting to see if they all work and, if not, who survives. Talk to me in a week.

On that note, on my blog abLA I am photo-blogging ABMB. Since today was all about installing our room for the Aqua Fair that’s pretty much what my pictures are. I didn’t get any shots of the massive rain pour we had but I know it’s not as much as a novelty as it is to us LA folks.

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A quick run around the hotel here at the Aqua Art Fair seems to indicate that everyone is just about done with all their preps. The leaks today turned out to be from an over active air conditioner trying to keep up with a humid day and lots of open doors, not so much with the rain which is quite reassuring. There have been some reports that Art Basel is not giving press passes to bloggers but I think that stems from some earlier confusion as all the boggers I know who showed up today received their passes with no issue. Well, little issue. Apparently you have to jump through some crazy hoops to bring in a camera – in fact some friends were told at the press room “you can’t bring a camera into the Louvre, why would you expect to be able to bring one into Art Basel?”

Police are planning “in-your-face” shows of force in public places, saying the random, high-profile security operations will keep terrorists guessing about where officers might be next. As an example, uniformed and plainclothes officers might surround a bank building unannounced, contact the manager about ways to be vigilant against terrorists and hand out leaflets in three languages to customers and people passing by, said police spokesman Angel Calzadilla. He said there would be no random checks of identification. “People are definitely going to notice it,” Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said Monday. “We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don’t want people to feel their rights are being threatened.

The third lawsuit, Delgado v. Miami-Dade County, stems from the unlawful arrest of Celeste Fraser Delgado, a reporter who was covering the demonstrations for the Miami New Times. She was walking with four demonstrators near the intersection of North Miami Avenue and 20th Street, and was confronted by four Miami-Dade police officers who jumped out of a squad car and ordered all of them to get down on the ground. They all immediately complied. Delgado told the officers she was a reporter, and showed them her identification badge. They handcuffed her anyway, and forced her to lie down on the ground for more than an hour. She was frisked while still on the floor, and then arrested for

Tyler Green just broke the news that both Pulse and NADA are having serious leakage problems. We’ve already heard reports of several inches of standing warter in booths (photos here) and damaged artwork. All this is second/third hand but the photos are pretty convincing. I’m quite releaved to report that things are all safe and dry here at Aqua, ironically I guess.

UPDATE: guess I spoke too soon – some of the rooms at Aqua are reporting minor leaking near the air conditioning vents.

The line is for purchasing, dispensing and receiving of caffeine related products. This is priority number one. It’s not for holding up the line to talk with each other about how cute the Starbucks cards are and it’s not for telling 20 minute long stories to the cashier about how your daughters off at college will “get a real kick” out of “one of these darling little things.”